


Memories

by iwriteshipsnotsailthem



Series: Spider-Man Klance AU [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Keith is Spider-Man, M/M, Police Officer Shiro (Voltron), soft klance, spider-man au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:28:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23593855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwriteshipsnotsailthem/pseuds/iwriteshipsnotsailthem
Summary: Keith tells Lance the story of how he became Spider-Man
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Spider-Man Klance AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1526615
Comments: 142
Kudos: 417





	1. Galran Labs

**Author's Note:**

> S U R P R I S E WE'RE BACKKKKKKKK
> 
> and heck yeah back with naming the title after a song from the into the spider-verse soundtrack 
> 
> Hope you enjoy the first chapter :)

"Lance, I like you and everything but if you break that I will kill you."

"Chillout Pidge, I'm not gonna break it. Now, how do I use this thing babe?"

Keith ignored Pidge who gagged at the pet name as he clicked the web shooter to his boyfriend's arm. He still couldn't help but blush at being called 'babe'. Four months of being Lance's official boyfriend and he was still weak for him.

They were at the old abandoned warehouse that Pidge and Keith went to test out his abilities. It was huge and barren, with high, open ceilings and cement walls. Nobody came out here which was perfect for when Keith was practising or testing out new equipment that Pidge was working on. It was like their own secret hideout.

"Okay, so I need to do the hand thing?" Lance's long, tanned fingers fiddled around until he did the signature hand pose. "Am I doing this ri- _waaaa!"_ Lance was cut off by his own scream as catapulted across the room when the web sprung out and hit the wall.

Keith snickered at the sight considering he knew it was going to happen while Pidge flinched.

"I don't care if he's your boyfriend, but if he breaks my web shooters I am going to kill him. I stole way too many parts from dad and Matt for him to just break it," she muttered as they watched Lance struggle to rip the web off the wall so he could move freely.

"He's fine, don't stress," Keith insisted as Lance cheered when he figured out that he needed to let go of the button to not be connected anymore. Lance aimed his arm up again, his smile cut off by another scream as the web he shot out hit the roof, projecting him into and through the air.

Keith looked back to Pidge. "I'll pay for anything he breaks."

"Smart boy."

"Uh... Keith? A little help here," Lance said, spinning around on the web like one of those built-in ballerinas in a jewelry box.

"You just need to let go again."

"I'm hanging from the _roof!_ "

"We all see that Lance," Pidge said as she sat on the ground and pulled out her laptop.

 _"Keith!"_ He whined and it was all that needed to be said for him to know what Lance meant and wanted.

He walked across the cement floor, stopping underneath where Lance was dangling from the roof and held his arms out open. Lance got the drift and let go, a small yelp leaving his mouth as he dropped.

It was an easy weight to catch, and when he did Lance laughed, looking up at him with a bright grin.

"My hero," he sang in an over dramatic tone. He leaned upwards and gave Keith a kiss on the cheek. The bridal position added more corniness to the situation, especially paired with Lance's words.

"You know, I didn't know how I felt about my boyfriend being able to throw me around at the beginning..." His lips twisted smugly as he grinned mischievously at Keith. "But I think I kinda like it now. Being manhandled isn't so bad after all. In fact, it's actually kind of-"

" _Okay!_ " Pidge shouted, cutting Lance off. "I think I've had enough of whatever that sentence was going to be!"

Keith rolled his eyes and put Lance back onto his own feet who pouted with reluctance.

"Are we done with the data?" Keith asked. By data, he meant the results of small little exercises that they did to test for variables to see if there were any changes in Keith's physical performance. Like if there was any change or if the radioactive venom was wearing off any time soon. He wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved that it wasn't. If anything, he was improving in all aspects, speed, strength and endurance more each time.

"Yeah, we're all done so you can go smooch your boyfriend or whatever you two do when you're alone. Just please make sure that I am not anywhere in the vicinity."

"Aww! No Pidgey!"

"I dare you to call me that again Lance-"

"We are only going to be watching a movie at Keith's place. You should come. I promise there will be no smooches at all!"

Keith paused to give Lance a disapproving look which he got shoved for.

"As... _Riveting_ as that sounds, I'm busy. Hunk and I are finishing off our robot for next week. You guys have your gross saliva exchanging fun without me."

Keith scrunched up his nose at her crude terminology while Lance just laughed.

"Fine, but say hi to my best buddy for me!"

Pidge murmured something but shut off her laptop and stood up. "Alright then, let's go."

***

"Don't fall asleep on me Spidey," Lance's soft voice called Keith out from falling into a light sleep.

A small groan escaped his mouth as his eyes adjusted to the light from his laptop screen that was playing a movie on his bed.

Not fully awake, Keith forced himself to keep his eyes open. It became nearly impossible when Lance gently pushed his hair out of his eyes. The touch was so soothing. Before Lance, he never would've found skin contact so relaxing.

"Sleepy?" He asked, voice accommodatingly gentle with consideration since Keith was still trying to wake up. That must have taken a lot of effort for Lance, considering he always spoke about ten times too loudly for any situation.

Keith used his elbows to sit up and rubbed his eyes. "Yeah, sorry. Last night's patrol was pretty hectic."

Even though the crime rates had gone down since he had started being Spider-Man it hadn't stopped it all together. People had stepped up their game, evolved, changed their tactics to become sneakier, unpredictable. Keith had to keep up with it all.

Lance hummed in understanding, fingers gently moving down from his hair to his face in soft, comforting movements. No matter how bad the day was, all he needed was Lance's presence to be able to calm him.

"You need to get more sleep." It wasn't said to lecture him or treat him like a baby. It was spoken with concern, but in a casual way. "You've been really low on energy lately."

He was right. At this point he was practically drained from any source of life. Falling asleep in class was a common occurence for him now. If he wasn't one of those people who naturally understood stuff he definitely would've fallen behind.

"It's been a weird week. I think something is going on, or is going to happen. I can _feel_ it."

Lance smiled as he put his head down on Keith's pillow, facing him while lying on his side, completely ignoring the movie now. "I think you worry too much. You can't do everything, despite the fact that you _think_ you can. You have your life to live too, you know?" He wriggled down to get more comfortable on the bed, nudging Keith's shin with his sock covered foot. "You can't be in your tiptop shape if you aren't looking after yourself properly, which _includes_ getting a bountiful amount of sleep." He tapped Keith on the tip of his nose like he was a naughty little kid. It scrunched up as he did, which made Lance smile, accompanied with an airy laugh. Soft, light, pretty.

Keith couldn't help but feel blessed by the fact that he's got the most amazing and gorgeous guy laying with him on his bed, booping his nose and making sure he's okay.

"That reminds me," Lance started again. "I wanted to ask you something."

He tensed, constricting his muscles in his arms, hands and legs, the ache of uncertainty raising in his chest. What did Lance want to ask him? And why did he look so nervous about it?

"Go for it," Keith said, sitting up a little straighter on his bed.

"Well..." Lance trailed off, tracing his finger on the bedsheets. "When you were doing your little experiments with Pidge to see if anything had changed with your Spidey-ness, I asked her how long you guys have been doing those for. She told me for as long as you had been bitten by that spider."

"Right."

"I was thinking, you never really told me what happened. You know, like how you got bitten and what happened. I guess I was just..." He blew air out of his mouth like he was blowing raspberries. "Curious? I mean, before I knew you were Spider-Man I asked you once, but you didn't tell me. You just told me it was a story for another time."

There was a reason why he hadn't told Lance just yet. It wasn't because he didn't trust him, but more along the lines of the fact that it involved Pidge's family. Her father and brother were the ones who worked at the labs and had let them go on a tour. They just didn't want to get either of them in trouble despite neither of them knowing that Keith had been bitten.

"That's fair," Keith said, watching the hopefulness unravel on Lance's face. "Do you want me to start from the beginning? It's somewhat of a long story."

Lance smiled and snuggled down onto Keith's bed, looking way too cute for it to be good to his heart.

"I don't mind, I have time."

"Alright then," Keith said. "It all started on the first week of summer break..."

***

"This isn't going to be boring, is it?" Keith asked, adjusting his glasses as they walked up the steps towards Galran Labs.

Pidge looked offended by the question. "Are you kidding me? We are getting access to one of the most prestigious and exclusive scientific laboratories in the country. How could that be boring?"

"Just because something is big and expensive doesn't mean it's interesting. No offence to your dad and Matt."

His friend shook her head with a roll of her eyes. "You don't get it. Galran laboratories are in another league from your usual stuff. Their advancements are extraordinary and a little on the controversial side. They're thinking outside the square. Not even on the same _page_ as the square."

"Like time travelling?" Keith scoffed.

Pidge's smile turned devious. "More like trying to prove the existence of other realities."

"What? Like the multiverse?"

"Look who's interested now," Pidge sneered as they approached the doors.

"Well you can't just tell me that there is potentially a multiverse and not assume I'm not going to be intrigued."

"Yeah, maybe in one of those alternate realities you have the balls to ask Lance on a date."

Keith rolled his eyes. _Yeah, like that would ever happen._

"So, is that what Matt and your dad are working on?" He said ignoring her comment.

"No, that's Professor Slav's work. My dad is working more along the lines of robotic prosthetics. And since Matt has only just graduated he's practically his assistant. Dad's busy today so Matt said he would give us a tour."

The doors opened automatically as they approached, swishing closed once they walked in. Galran Labs were ultra modern. It felt like walking into a NASA space station. Everything was pristine white and clean, almost to the point where it felt unnatural and unnerving. Especially the way his black clothes stood out in contrast.

"Katie! Keith!" The voice of Matthew Holt gained their attention as he jogged over, wearing a white lab coat and his glasses. "Hey! Are you excited for the grand tour by yours truly?" He grinned proudly at their reaction to the interior. Pidge was practically quivering with excitement.

"Heck yeah we are! Oh man I can't wait to look at all this technology up close and personal."

"Well then let's get a move on. We don't have all the time in the world."

Usually, when Keith thought about going to science labs he would get pretty bored by the concept of it. He only had come today because Pidge dragged him. But as Matt took them around he had found himself genuinely intrigued by all the independent scientists and inventor's work.

It was different from what you would expect. Projects that only seemed like a fantasy or something very futuristic. Bold ideas that would usually have other organisations cringing at the implications of failure. Galran Labs weren't like that. They thrived on the originality and the wonder of a better future.

It was all out of the box and seemed unlikely, but they had some of the brightest minds in the world in this one place and it was honestly pretty inspiring.

"And this is our last stop!" Matt stated as they stopped outside Pidge's father's area. "Keith, has Katie told you what exactly we're doing here?"

"Something along the lines of disability aid, right?" Pidge had spoken about it to him on many occasions. It's just that he didn't know what the exact details were.

"Correct!" The door slid open with the key card attached to Matt's lanyard. "Dad and I are working on robotic prosthetics that act and function like a real arm by working with the nerves that connect to the brain. There of course have been lots of inventions like this, but our dad has pretty much perfected it and gone beyond." They walked inside and Keith could see all of the gadgets around the room. Some looked like limbs in the forms of arms, hands and fingers, others looked more like a claw of a toy machine.

"It's going to be helpful for people who have muscular degeneration or loss of limb. Here at Galran Labs we're all about going outside of the box and helping better our race with technology."

Keith looked around at all the screens and screws. The room's state reminded Keith of Pidge's room. Organised chaos. There were things quite literally everywhere. The only difference from the lab and Pidge's room was the Lab didn't seem like it was messy or non-functional.

At the centre of it was Sam Holt, probably the smartest man that Keith had ever come into contact with. He was the type you could feel how intelligent he was just by just engaging with his aura.

Sam swung around on his chair, a big grin on his face. "Well isn't this just a treat? Have you two liked the tour?"

"It was amazing!" Pidge gushed, spinning around the room like how a Disney princess would in the middle of a meadow. "I can't believe you get to work with all this incredible technology every day!"

Sam stood up and ruffled his daughter's hair. "Well maybe one day if you continue to work hard you can work here as well." Her eyes lit up at the proposition and then she walked around the room, like she was already mentally picturing it.

In that same moment a short man dashed into the room murmuring _'oh no, oh no, this just won't do, I need to find the electro cord or I may fall into the reality where I get hit by lightning!'_

Keith watched the man fret around the room, picking up objects and putting them back down and shaking his head, muttering to himself.

"Who the heck is that?" Pidge asked under her breath.

"Don't mind him," Sam said with a wave of his hand. "That's just Slav, he is very particular about how certain things must go in order for him to get the correct outcome."

Matt leaned in closer to Keith and whispered to him, "Total loony, but super smart. He's working on alternate realities."

Well that did explain things.

Slav lifted his head, beady eyes locking onto Keith. "Oh dear, oh dear, it’s really going to be this one, isn't it? At this rate we're going to go down the course where New York city gets blown up!"

The four other people in the room just stared blankly at him. What was he going on about? Blowing up the city?

Suddenly the man was running over to Keith and handing him a hairclip. "It is vital for you to wear this hairclip and turn around 60 times while jumping in the air otherwise you're going to achieve a life changing occurrence that will change the way our society works as a whole!" He said as he pushed the clip into his hands and started to demonstrate the spinning and jumping technique.

"Professor Slav," Sam sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Please don't scare my children's friends."

The professor stopped and looked at Sam with wide eyes, hands going into the air and flailing around. "Dr Holt! I am afraid what is to come is going to be much more terrifying if we continue to–"

"Okay, okay," Sam said, putting his hands on the short man's shoulders as he directed the professor out of his lab. "How about I get you back to your workspace and you can tell me all about the realities."

The panic settled over the man's face as Sam began to walk him out. He looked at Keith. "Stay away from the spi—“

And before he could finish the sentence he was out of the room, leaving him, Matt and Pidge.

"Are you sure he's a genius?" She asked with uncertainty.

"He's just got a unique... _everything_." He clapped his hands together. "Since we're done with the tour do you want to just have a look around here or –"

"Hang on," Pidge interjected. "We haven't gone to the lab across yours. What's inside that one?"

"Sorry to break it to you, but that is strictly off bounds. I only met that guy that worked there once. Haven't seen them in months. We are not allowed in there. Only dad is so he can feed the animals. There aren't even that many there considering he took most of them with him when he left."

"Animals?" Keith asked.

"I don't know the whole science of it all, but apparently the professor working there was aiming to be able to use certain animal qualities to be able to heal or strengthen human DNA. Hybrid kind of stuff."

"Like when a lizard's tail gets chopped off and grows back? Are they trying to do that with humans?" Pidge asked, eyes almost popping out of her head. "That's incredible!"

"Yeah, something along those lines. From whispers I'm pretty sure he was getting pretty close to human trials. Then he just completely disappeared, not to be seen since."

"Weird."

"Yeah, so maybe if he decides to come back from his little vacation you can ask for yourself, but until then you're stuck with me looking at totally rocking robot arms."

Matt then went on explaining the mechanics to Pidge when only moments later a loud crash came from Professor Slav's lab. They all jumped at the sudden noise. After recovering for a moment Matt groaned.

"Ah jeez, I better go make sure nothing has exploded again. I'll be right back, don't break anything because I'll be the one to fix it if you do," he warned with a teasing grin as he jogged backwards out of the room.

Pidge didn't waste a second before moving to her dad's table and grabbing his lanyard.

"What are you –"

"You heard Matt. We don't know if this professor dude is going to come back. I just want to go check out his research."

"Pidge that's the worst idea I've ever heard. We don't know what's in there."

Pidge rolled her eyes as they snuck out across the hall to where the abandoned laboratory was.

"Don't be such a pussy Keith. We're just gonna go in and have a look around." She swiped her dad's ID card on the security pass and grinned as the red light flashed green. "We'll be in and out before Dad or Matt even realise."

At this point in their friendship Keith knew better than to try and change Pidge's mind when it came to acquiring knowledge. When she had her head set on it, there was no turning back. He might as well go with her so she didn't die or turn into a lizard person from this guy's weird experiments.

The room was dark upon entering, but the lights flickered on from the sensor. The light however was dim, maybe to accommodate the animals.

It made Keith a little squeamish knowing these animals were being experimented on. Rats, rabbits and lizards. But they were normal sort of animals to be experimented on. What he didn't quite understand was the bugs.

"Look at that nasty ass cockroach," Pidge said tapping the glass of a small enclosure. Keith smacked her hand away from it.

"Don't touch anything, you might break something."

" _You might break something_ ," Pidge mocked him, deepening her voice. Keith narrowed his eyes at her and scowled as she snickered, putting her head close to the container. She then moved on to the next one. "Hey, this one is empty. What do you reckon was inside? The professor must've taken whatever it was with him."

From the look of the enclosure it looked like it was probably some sort of insect or reptile. It had greenery with branches and dirt as well as lots of places to hide.

"Look!" Pidge exclaimed as she picked up a notebook in front of the empty enclosure. "Apparently there were spiders in there. Yuck."

"You really shouldn't be touching that." This place gave him the creeps. Even with the light on it was so dark. How could anybody work in this kind of environment?

"Can you please calm down. It's just some notes." She raised the book up to her nose to get a closer look. "Kinda looks like a schedule or something. If it was really that important the professor would've taken it with them when he left."

"I wonder why they left," Keith said absentmindedly touching his finger to the glass.

He swiped some hair -which was starting to get just _a little_ too long - out of his eyes. Maybe he should have accepted that hair clip.

"Who knows. Maybe the CEO of Galran Labs thought even _this_ was too out there of an experiment to go through with. They potentially could've cut his funds or whatever."

"Maybe he was just bat shit crazy. Isn't there some kind of moral with this kind of thing? Mixing hybrids and stuff, kinda feels like you're playing God."

"You don't even believe in God, neither do I and this dude probably doesn't either. His intentions are good though. Imagine all the things we could do if we had animalistic features of choice. Night vision! Wouldn't that be so cool?"

Keith frowned as he looked back at the empty cages. "I don't know. It sounds good in theory I guess."

Pidge sighed. "You're really no fun sometimes. Come on, we better get back into Dad and Matt's lab before they come back and realise that we stole the lanyard."

" _We_ ," Keith scoffed, but didn't hesitate to follow along with her. He had no desire to be in the creepy room filled with empty glass cages that were far more daunting to begin with alone.

* * *

"Are you heading out?" Keith asked as Shiro got off the phone with one of his superiors. He had barely been home after the tour before Shiro was leaving again. 

His half brother sighed and ruffled his own hair with a strenuous groan. "Yeah. I'm sorry Keith. Are you okay to make yourself dinner?"

"I'll figure something out. You better go though otherwise you're going to be late."

Shiro gave him a smile, although it did look like he felt guilty about leaving Keith so suddenly by himself. It wasn't like Keith was not used to this by now anyway. His brother worked hard, harder than anyone he'd ever met. He respected that about Shiro. Work was work and he had a duty to fulfil.

Once by himself he went through the nightly routine of dinner and then hanging out in his room to binge something on Netflix until he wanted to go to sleep. But to properly prepare for that he had to get out of his clothes, take off his glasses and into some comfy sweats and a hoodie.

As he was taking off his jacket he noticed a small black flicker run over his sleeve. Since he didn't have his glasses on, he had to blink to make sure that he had seen that correctly, leaning his face closer to his arm.

He wasn't the type to be afraid of spiders, but he didn't particularly like the thought of them being on his body. Preferred they be away from him and at a safe distance. His arm was not a safe distance, so he instinctively slapped it away, flinching as he felt a sharp pinch on his forearm. The spider dropped to the ground, suddenly not moving.

He rubbed his arm tentatively and winced.

"Fucking bastard," he hissed as his arm continued to sting. Using a piece of paper he picked up the spider that was mostly dead off the ground and put it on his desk to inspect it closely. It was black, skinny, most likely just an ordinary house spider. Except it had red legs. Weird, but despite it he decided he would only need to go to the medical supplies in the bathroom and put some soothing cream on it and a Band-Aid to keep it in place. Just to be safe.

Once he was done with that he went back to his room and proceeded to watch his show like any other ordinary night. After a couple of episodes he went to sleep, completely unaware that when he woke up his life would be changed.


	2. Spider Bite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and we back with another chapter!! enjoy 💕
> 
> Also for the people who read my single dad lance au there is going to be another bonus chapter of that uploaded next week!!!!

A flushed, hot haze was the state Keith woke up in. Body sticky from all his sweat and as he tried to clear his throat it felt like it was on fire. Actually, his whole body felt like it was on fire. His muscles tightened and cramped in the most painful way, so much so that he was too afraid to move at the thought of making it worse.

He took a short inhale as he tried to get air into his lungs that screamed. By the pain he was feeling he would assume that he would have screamed the whole neighbourhood down, except it was so painful all he could do was gasp.

He went in and out of consciousness for what felt like hours, waking up and going back to sleep and waking up again every few seconds. The pain made his brain go into panic mode, wondering what was going on.

He hoped this was just a bad nightmare, or whatever else was going on would end soon. He just wanted it to be over.

Deep unconsciousness took him as he passed out one last time.

* * *

When he woke up he wondered if all of that was just a dream. He felt considerably fine. Maybe a little hazy in the head as he sat up and the world spun around him, but other than that, mostly okay.

What really was gross though was the stickiness of his skin and the wet marks on his T-shirt. He smelt real fucking bad.

You know it's bad when you can smell yourself.

Raising his hand to his head he put his fingers through his hair.

Greasy as all hell. A shower right now was definitely a priority.

Wriggling his way out of his bedsheets, he instinctively moved to grab his glasses. His family had never been gifted with good sight. Shiro wore contacts, but Keith could never be bothered, plus they always itched and dried out.

So he was very surprised when he put his frames on his face and his vision suddenly became blurry. Narrowing his eyes, he removed the glasses to see the clear picture of his room. He could even read the lettering on his band posters that were usually blurry.

Did he leave his contacts in? No, he didn't wear his contacts yesterday. He hasn't won his contacts in over a year. To be honest, he didn't even know where they were.

He put his glasses back on and instantly felt a headache coming on.

Why was his vision so oddly perfect?

Standing up he decided to throw his glasses on the bed, not wanting to deal with the confusion this early in the morning.

Except, when he went to throw the frames, they didn't leave his hand. A confused noise left his mouth as he flicked his wrist, hoping the force would create the desired departure, but his glasses refused to leave his hand.

"What the hell?" He muttered to himself as he flattened his fingers, feeling even more bewildered than before when the glasses stayed stuck to his hand when they should've fallen to the ground as nothing held them up.

In his state of shock he almost tripped over his bed covers that followed him, stuck to his feet and leg.

His panic intensified as he tried to rip the blanket off of his leg and then proceeded to get the fabric stuck to his other hand.

Fumbling around his room he tried to regain his balance and remove the blanket from his body. It was like someone had superglued his skin and everything was sticking to him like velcro.

This was weird. Real fucking weird. He would've thought he was dreaming but he was certain that his imagination could not have made up this.

Stumbling across his room he went back to his bedside table and grabbed his phone, peeling his thumb off the glass each time he touched the screen to unlock his password.

"Siri, call Pidge," he wheezed, majorly panicking as he continued to try to rip the blanket off his foot, only to get stuck to another part of his body.

A few moments later his phone was ringing and Pidge was answering with a groan. "You better have a good reason to be waking me up at 7 am you heathen!"

"Something really weird is going on," he gushed out in a flurry of panic. "I'm really sticky. I am sticking to everything in my room and I have no idea what is going on!"

"Sticky?" His friend asked, obviously waking up more at the sound of his panic. "What, were you thinking about Lance again or something?"

"I'm not kidding around! Something is happening with my body."

"It's called puberty."

"This is not puberty! My glasses aren't working and I think I might have almost died last night because I kept waking up in this fever and –"

"Calm down! Calm down, jeez. It's too early for you to be yelling in my ear like this."

"Pidge I'm seriously _freaking_ out right now. You would be too if your body was stuck to everything you touched. I had to call you with voice recognition! _Voice recognition!_ You know I never use voice recognition because I'm scared the government's gonna steal all my info!"

"Out of 10 how much of an emergency is this?"

"It's not even on the scale. I feel like someone's slipped drugs into me and I'm fucking hallucinating!"

There was shuffling on the other side of the phone and he felt like he could honestly sigh relief at knowing Pidge was moving to get on her way here. Surely she would know what was going on, she was a child genius.

"I'll be over in twenty minutes just... Don't touch anything?"

Keith nodded and hung up the phone. He went to put it down but then quickly realised that it was just not going to work. It was completely stuck to his hand. Induced by panic he even attempted to throw it at a wall. It wouldn't even budge from his palm.

At least if he was on some secret drug Pidge would be able to look after him until he stopped tripping out.

His room suddenly felt too cramped and he needed to leave, to do _something_ other than sit here and wait. He took a few long strides towards the door and twisted the knob.

First mistake of many to come.

In his panic he swung the door open and effectively ripped it off at hinges.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no _, no!"_ He repeated to himself as he balanced the door against the wall.

He's in no way in hell strong enough to just _break_ a door and rip it off the wall!

For however long it was he practiced those deep breathing exercises Shiro always raved about. They weren't really helping. Brain going too fast, nauseating him because he was so confused about the situation at hand. He didn't even know how to relax his muscles anymore. He was so tightly wound.

It felt more than twenty minutes when Pidge came walking into his bedroom, wearing her brother's sweatpants, hoodie and beanie, looking like an absolute hobo. Despite it all there was no way she could have looked worse than Keith looked and felt.

"Okay stinky monster, what the hell was going on? If this is your idea of an elaborate joke I –"

Keith raised his hand up in the air and faced his palm downwards, his phone sticking to his hand and not falling down with gravity.

Her eyes widened as she took a few steps forward and grabbed the phone, tugging it, but to no avail it stuck.

"Dude what the hell!" She screeched and jumped backwards.

"I know! I have no idea what is happening."

"Is everywhere sticky?"

"I don't know. I can also see. Perfect 20/20 vision. "

"No way! Your vision is worse than mine!"

"Exactly!" Keith exasperated, throwing his hands in the air. "I even broke my door!"

Pidge turned to look, obviously not noticing it before. "Why did you break your door?"

"It was an accident! I'm not strong enough to break a door, we all know this! None of this makes sense!"

"Have you told Shiro what's going on?"

"He was out on a night patrol. He wouldn't be home yet."

"Okay, well let's just think about what could've caused this. What have you been doing?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary." He was pacing around his room by this stage, pieces of paper and socks getting stuck to his feet as he walked.

"No dietary changes?" She asked as she scrolled through her phone, obviously trying to do a little bit of research.

"No."

"Drugs?"

"No. Nothing has changed. I haven't done anything out of the ordinary. The only thing that was different last night was that I woke up with this really bad fever and it felt like I kept passing out. It was so painful but when I woke up this morning I didn't feel anything, I assumed it was a nightmare or sleep paralysis."

"Did you do anything different last night that could've caused it? Replay your night."

Keith grumbled and stared up at the ceiling as he thought the night before. "There is literally nothing special about it. I came home after we went to the lab, Shiro left and I spent the night watching Netflix."

"Nothing? Not even the littlest tiniest details?"

A light sudden throb on his arm came as a reminder.

"I mean, I got bitten by a spider."

"Spider?"

"Yeah. He walked over to the desk to see if the spider had made it through the night and had crawled away. It was dead on his desk on top of the piece of paper, unmoving.

Pidge leaned down, adjusting her glasses as she took a good close look at the dead creature. Suddenly, she seized up.

"Keith, I've seen this before."

"I mean probably, it's just a normal house spider."

Pidge shook her head, eyes wide like she had just seen a ghost. "N-No. I saw that spider in the lab."

 _"What?"_ Keith shouted. "There were no spiders in the lab! What are you talking about? The enclosure was empty!"

"I thought it was empty too," Pidge murmured as she used a pencil to poke at the dead spider. "But this is the exact same spider I saw in the professor's notebook. He had a picture of it in there. I'm sure of it. Its feet were red."

100,000,000 things rain through his mind in that one moment. A lot of it was panic. Had he really just been bitten by some crazy experiment spider?

"You don't think..."

She took a deep breath. "I think you're the first human guinea pig to be a part of the animal hybrid experiment. Whoever it was that created this has made a major breakthrough."

Blood pumped loudly in his ears and head. He couldn't hear anything over the heart beat inside him.

"Keith, I think your eyesight is healed, and for the stickiness, it must have something to do with a spider's abilities to climb shit." Her eyes brightened. "Dude, you're like a spider now."

"This isn't funny! What if I die?"

"I think you're more likely to be healthier if anything... unless you get sudden complications and your body shuts down."

_"Pidge!"_

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Plus, remember what Matt said? He said that the guy was practically ready for human trials before he disappeared."

" _Practically_ doesn't soothe my worries!"

"Well how do you feel then? Do you feel like you're about to die?"

Keith thought about it and honestly, he felt kind of great. Definitely not the 'on death's door' type of feeling. Considering the terrible night sleep he had he felt quite energised and like he could run a marathon.

"No..."

"Well then let's go see what else you can do. I know just the place."

* * *

The 'place' happened to be an old abandoned warehouse outside of the city. Pidge had her laptop under her arm and Keith still had his phone stuck to his fingers. It almost taken them half an hour to get the stupid blanket to unstick from his legs.

"So what now?"

"We need to do some tests. We have no idea what else the spider bite did to you. I mean, so far you're incredibly sticky and can see better. Surely there's more."

"This is so messed up. Are you sure we shouldn't be talking to your dad?"

"We can't tell Matt and Dad, by contract they're obligated to share any sort of findings that they find because everything is owned by Galran Labs. Meaning they _own_ you. For all we know, they could turn you into some sort of an experiment. Or they would consider it theft, we would be in so much trouble, like _jail_ trouble."

Keith groaned. "This is too crazy. I can't believe this is happening."

"In other news, I was doing some research," Pidge said as she tapped away on her laptop, ignoring Keith's existential crisis. "A lot of spiders are really strong. Going by looks, the closest thing I could find to the species of spider that bit you was a jumping spider. They can lift about 170 times their weight. If you convert that to humans..." She looked up at Keith.

"What?" He asked, daunted by the answer.

"Let's just say that you can lift something 170 times your weight, it would be like..." She looked like she was doing some maths in her head. "Like lifting three full grown hippopotamuses."

"Get fucked!" Keith snapped. "I'm not gonna be able to lift a hippopotamuses! Let alone three! That doesn't make sense!"

"Did I ever say that you were going to be able to lift that much?" Pidge retorted sharply, matching the severity in his tone before taking a deep breath and continuing in a calmer fashion. "I highly doubt it. It's just if we are _comparing_ you to a spider of that calibre. Why don't you pick something up? Like the big crate over there."

Keith followed her line of vision and scoffed as he looked at the metal crate that was situated in the corner of the room.

"I can't lift that! Are you crazy? It's easily 200 kilos."

"Not with that attitude you can't! You didn't even try. You broke your door, didn't you?"

In the mix of his panic he had forgotten about his poor door. Shiro was going to kill him when he got home.

"Just because I broke a door doesn't mean that I have spider strength or whatever," he muttered as he stalked over to the metal crate. It was probably empty, but the exterior looked like it was made to hold something of value and fragility.

He squatted down and put his hands awkwardly around the outside. He then began to lift, trying it against the awkward grip on it. It seemed the sticky grip on his fingers finally were of used when he felt it go airborne, which he dropped in panic.

_"Holy shit!"_

"Holy shit!" She shouted as she sprinted over to him. "No fucking way! Dude, you have super strength!"

Keith sat on the edge of the crate and ran his fingers through his hair. "This is too much to deal with.”

"I know you're having a little bit of a meltdown, but I've had another thought." She was bouncy, which only meant one thing. She was excited. It perfectly contrasted Keith's fear and desire to explode into death. "Do you know how you said you were sticky? What are the chances that you can climb a wall like a spider?"

"Are you taking this seriously? I'm a _freak_! More of a freak than I was a day ago, and that's saying something!"

"Don't get all emo on me. Come on! Aren't you just a little bit curious to see what you can do now? If something bad was going to happen to you you would've happened already."

Keith gritted his teeth, looking up the wall with the high ceilings and back to his hands. Could he really climb that?

He stood.

There was only one way to find out.

Pidge squealed at the back of her throat as Keith approached the wall. He kicked off his shoes and socks and raised a hand up. Like he had a thought, his hand stuck to the cold surface. His feet stuck too, making it an easy feat for him to rise off the floor. As simply as a rock climber would with the small ledges he climbed.

Before he knew what he had reached the top, hand meeting the top corner of the wall that connected to the roof. A smile tore from his mouth involuntarily.

"Climb on the motherfucking roof! Fuck gravity!"

"Fuck gravity," he murmured to himself and moved his hand from the wall to the roof. He looked down at his friend as he climbed. She was cheering and screaming in disbelief.

"Do you reckon you can stand on the roof? Holy shit _stand on the roof!_ "

He carefully maneuvered his hands and feet to a squatting position and looked down at Pidge. His hair went down all over his face because that was still affected by the gravitational pull, unsurprisingly.

"Oh my god that professor is going to be so _mad_ that he left without knowing that his concoction would make a human spider! Who is this guy? I want to meet him so we can talk about how bat shit crazy he is to have invented this!"

"This is the weirdest day of my life!" Keith laughed out loud, probably in shock. "I don't even know how I'm supposed to get down! Do you reckon the stickiness wears off?"

"Maybe the sheer force of will?"

Keith closed his eyes and thought about his body and unsticking. Maybe that would work?

A tingling went through his body moments before he felt the sudden drop as his feet disconnected from the roof and he crashed back down to earth.

He screamed as he fell and yelped out of instinct when he landed on his back. The wind was knocked out of him momentarily as he lied there, waiting for the pain to come. Yet, he felt relatively unharmed.

"Oh my god are you okay? Are you hurt?" He moved his body in a wriggle and felt absolutely no pain.

He started to laugh.

"Super strength!" He cheered out which made Pidge jump in the air with her hands above her head.

_"Super strength!"_

* * *

The second week of summer break consisted of continuously going back to the abandoned warehouse and testing out what new things Keith could do. Once he figured out that he wasn't going to die it made things a lot more fun and enjoyable. Pidge was also in her element, making charts and diagrams of his progress and notes of what he could do and couldn't.

Keith was halfway through explaining a new phenomena he had come to learn to live with when it came to being a human spider.

"I don't get it," she said as she typed. "What do you mean it's like an instinct?"

"It's like I know things are going to happen. Every morning I've been waking up seconds before my alarm clock goes off, or I know that somebody is approaching me or whatever."

"Like a danger sensor?"

"I guess so." This whole week has been a learning curve. Being so strong and sticky was hard to get used to, but he was getting better at adapting everyday. It still for the moment felt like he was walking around on eggshells all the time.

"So if someone were to shoot at you..."

"I assume I would know before the bullet hit me."

She hummed and continued to take notes. "It's interesting, but I guess a creature as high strung like a spider would have that sort of instinct to fear a lot of things, or at least be prepared for it. Always on the defence, ready to be attacked by a predator any time."

"It's handy," he shrugged. They sat in silence for a few moments while Pidge concentrated on clicking away at her keyboard. "So... I was thinking –"

"Never a good sign."

"Shut up, asswipe. I was thinking of what our next step should be."

Her head lifted up and her brows were pinched together, obviously confused. "What do you _mean_ next step?"

"I've got these powers," he said, putting up two fingers for an indirect quote. "Shouldn't I be using them for something?"

"Like what exactly?" She noticed Keith's expression and barked a laugh. "You can't be seriously thinking what I think you're thinking?"

"Why couldn't I? I know it's a bit odd and beyond cliché, but I have superpowers! Shouldn't I be doing something... super? Using the gift I've been given to do good?"

She was about to laugh when she recognised the last line because that was something that his mother had always said to him before she died.

"So what, you want to become a vigilante?"

"I was thinking more of... A helping hand. I can do things that a normal police officer can't do."

Keith knew better than anyone that despite how amazing New York City was, it could be a pretty dark place. Robberies, drug dealing and worse were at an all time high. His father died in a fire caused by arson trying to protect others and his mother had been murdered in cold blood for doing something as innocent as walking home from work.

"You know what happened to my parents. Maybe I could prevent something like that from happening to somebody else?"

"I don't know," Pidge admitted. "It sounds dangerous and I don't know how it would work. Would you just wait in empty alleyways for someone to get mugged?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of hacking into the police radios. I know you're more than capable of doing it."

"Yeah but if I get caught then I'm going to get arrested."

Keith chuckled. "Not that I know anything about hacking, but I know you're good enough to not get caught."

His friend scratched her head. "I mean it's true, but what about you? It would be pretty dangerous stuff. Are you willing to risk your life to go fight baddies?"

"We both know crime rates are skyrocketing. They talk about it all the time in the news. Maybe I can help tone it down a bit? Even if it's just low life stuff. It's worth a try, right? If I can do something good for the sake of everyone else then maybe it will be worth it."

Pidge sighed in what sounded like defeat. "Well I can't stop you, I know how stubborn you are about things when you set your mind to it, so I know either way you're not going to listen to me." Pidge raised her head and gave him a smile. "I can be your tech girl. We can make this a team effort. Me the brains and you the broad."

Keith grinned. She might not have been completely on board but he knew it was important to him anyway.

"Go team," he said, extending his closed fist out for her to bump.

"Go team."

* * *

Lance's face dropped a little as his thumb carefully traced over Keith's knuckles. It was attentive. Understanding without understanding.

"I didn't know about your mum dying that way," he said slowly, carefully, like he felt like he was treading on something dangerous.

Of course Lance didn't know. He didn't know Keith when it happened which was in his last year of middle school. It was easier to talk about what happened to his dad because it was so long ago and the nature of it wasn't so... horrendous. But either way, he still didn't talk about either of their deaths in detail.

"I don't really like to talk about," he said with a shrug.

Keith had been really close to his mum. He was close to her and Shiro. After his father died when he was eight they were all he had. Then she was killed walking home late after work. She had to work a lot to pay for their bills because they didn't really have the funds. Especially after his dad died.

Then it was all left to Shiro, his half brother who had only just left his teenage years. Krolia had gotten pregnant young with some douchebag who left her, then met Keith's father a few years later and had him. But his dad was just as much a father to him as he was to Shiro.

He didn't tell Lance this, but the reason why he started following Lance home after work was because he didn't want something like what happened to his mother to happen to him too. Even now that they were together the idea of him being out there in the middle of the night filled Keith with dread.

"That's completely fair Keith," Lance insisted, leaning in a little closer to his face. "I don't want to make you feel like you have to talk about that stuff with me. I don't want to force things out of you. But know that if you ever need to talk about that stuff I am here."

Keith couldn't help but smile at Lance's sincerity. Bringing a thumb up to rub over Lance's cheekbone he watched as the others' faces go pink.

"Thanks, I really do appreciate that."

Lance smiled sweetly and he nudged his face closer into Keith's palm. "That's okay, but you should really continue on with the story. I'm kind of invested at this point."

"Okay," he said with a laugh, moving his hand from Lance's cheek to go and rest on his waist. Apparently he was feeling bold today. It was probably after the comments Lance made while they were at the warehouse. The other boy didn't seem to mind either, smiling and wriggling a little closer to him on the bed.

"So, the next thing Pidge and I decided to do was to really go deep into this whole 'superhero' thing..."

* * *

"This is fucked," Keith grumbled after snipping his finger with the sewing scissors. He had an oversized red beanie which he was trying to make a balaclava out of by cutting eye holes.

" _Jesus Christ_ what the fuck is that?"

"My disguise!"

"You're going to look like a serial killer if you wear that thing." Keith rolled his eyes and tied his hair back before putting the tight fitting material over his head. Pidge winced. "Yep, it's even worse on. Congratulations, you're going to be the most hated superhero that has ever heroed. Everyone is going to run away from you just because you are so terrifying."

Keith groaned as he pulled the balaclava off his face and attempted to fix his hair. "It's not my fault I'm not artistically inclined when it comes to costumes. It just needs to be practical. I don't need to look fantastic. All I have to do is hide my face. It's not like we have any other option."

There was a silence that came from Pidge that made him reconsider.

"Pidge?"

"I know I'm going to regret telling you this," she muttered under her breath. She spun around to face him on Keith's desk chair. "I _might_ be able to do something." The confusion on his face must've been what prompted her to speak next. "When I was a kid my mum forced me to learn how to sew. She thought I would want to know how to do it for when I was older and if I wanted to make doll dresses."

Keith covered his face before he let out a small huff of laughter.

"Don't you laugh at me! Do you want a disguise or not?"

He looked at the sad excuse of a costume in the form of a red hoodie, blue sweatpants and the terribly cut balaclava that sat on his bed. He looked back to his friend.

"How quickly do you think you can get it done?"

She crossed her arms, now looking up to the ceiling as she thought over the question. "Well, depends how long the design process takes and if we want to add any extra features."

"Features?"

"We could put a communication device in your mask, for example. We will be able to talk while you do your thing."

"Wow, you're really gonna deck this thing out."

"Keith, you know once I start something I make sure I do it right."

Keith grinned. "I know." He lifted his balaclava up. "But for now, this will probably have to do."

"That thing is an abomination."

"Whatever, it'll do the trick while you make the proper disguise. The next thing we have to do is figure out a name."

"We're really going for the superhero life, huh?"

Keith rolled his eyes as he got out from underneath his bed a large box that was empty and shoved the makeshift suit inside, he didn't need Shiro seeing this.

"A safety precaution is more like it. I don't need people knowing it's me. We're gonna Clark Kent this shit."

Pidge twirled her pen around her fingers. "Can we just take Superman? It's not like Superman is real anyway."

Keith shoved the box back under the bed. "Wouldn't I get like, copyright infringements. Plus I'm not an alien. I need my own name."

"Maybe we are getting ahead of ourselves. You'll probably get killed the first time you try and get into a fight with a mugger."

Keith walked over just so he could directly flick his finger against the middle of her forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! writing keith and pidge's friendship in this and their banter was definitely my fave part they're so funky :)
> 
> last chapter will be up next weekend ♥♥♥


	3. The Red Bandit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for reading more with this series!!! There will be another part which I am close to finishing :D

“So, what’s the plan?” Pidge asked into the earbuds.

“I don’t know,” he said quietly as he walked down the dark street by himself. “I was planning on walking around and waiting for something to happen.”

He heard a prolonged sigh. “This is going to be a long night.”

“We have to start somewhere, and considering you haven’t been able to hack into the police radio yet means that we don’t have much of an option other than to look for trouble ourselves.”

Despite her complaining, it didn’t take much longer for them to find some suspicious activity. A figure looking through a car window and peering inside caught Keith's attention on the side of the street.

“I think there’s a guy trying to steal a car,” Keith whispered, pulling his backpack off and rummaging through it to pull out the red balaclava. Pidge had yet to finish the design for the suit so obviously it wasn’t made yet. That meant a scrappy excuse for a disguise was still his only option.

He pulled it over his head just as the man threw a rock at the car window, smashing glass and putting his hand through to unlock it from the inside. A car alarm went off, echoing down the empty street. Keith didn’t let that deter him as he ran over.

Roughly, he grabbed the back of the man’s jacket before he could step inside the car and yanked him backwards.

“I get a funny feeling that doesn’t belong to you.”

The car thief hissed in retaliation and shock from being suddenly grabbed. His unkempt hair was tucked back into a beanie and his eyes were filled with rage.

“Fuck off if you know what’s good for you,” the man snarled, but Keith proceeded to pull him further back away from the car.

“Well what the shit am I supposed to do now?” Keith whispered, hoping Pidge had a solid idea as the man thrashed around in his grip.

“I’ve called the police Keith, all you have to do now is just wait it out until they get there. Distract him.”

Keith nodded, even though he knew his partner couldn’t see.

“What’s good for me?” He asked with a mocking laugh. “Because _I’m_ supposed to be scared of some cowardly car thief? I’m not particularly scared of you.” The man shrugged his jacket off so he could try to slip from his grip. “Oh, no, no, no,” Keith said with a shake of his head as he shoved the man away from the car as he tried to escape. “You’re not getting away with this car.”

“Who the hell even are you?” The man spat. “What’s with the fucking mask?”

“Have you ever not seen Hannah Montana? Privacy is a thing, you know.”

Keith could see the man’s anger bubbling. He was already mad before, but now he was practically shaking.

A tremor in Keith’s body made him raise his arm in a blocking position, just in time to catch the fist of the car thief.

They’re both surprised by the fast reflexes, both raising their heads slowly to look each other in the eye. Keith grinned while the other gawked.

Whatever these spider instincts were, they were really damn helpful.

Keith shoved him backwards until he stumbled and fell to the ground. Once he got back to his feet he charged at Keith, only to go headfirst into the side of the car door and cut his face on broken glass as Keith dodged out of the way.

“That was really quite the show,” Keith said as he watched the car thief get to his feet with a stagger. “Man, if it weren’t for the police already being on their way, I’d probably call you an ambulance. Surely you have a concussion.”

“You called the fucking cops?” The man groaned as he wiped some blood off his brow.

“Yeah? You were going to steal a car. What did you expect, dumbass?”

The sound of sirens made both men straighten their posture.

“Looks like they’re here. It was nice getting to know you and everything but you’re probably about to get arrested.”

He watched a police car roll up and the door swing open. It wasn’t Shiro, thank goodness, but another police officer. They assessed the situation; the glass on the ground and the two men. One covered in blood and one with a balaclava.

“Alright both of you! Hands above your head!”

“Woah,” Keith yelped as he put his hands up. “I’m the one who called! He’s the car thief, not me! I’m on your side!”

The woman obviously didn’t buy it and got her hand ready at her belt.

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to remove the balaclava so we can properly identify you.”

“What the hell do I do?” Keith whispered, hoping Pidge would be able to get him out of this situation.

“ _Now,_ sir!”

“Just make a run for it! The chances of them being able to catch up with you is pretty minimal. You’re not _The Flash_ fast, but you are fast.”

“If I get caught I’m going to get sent to jail,” he hissed as the police officer began to approach them both with a cautious stance.

“You’re about to get thrown into the back of a police car anyway! _Run!”_

Before the woman could become in arms reach of him, Keith made a jumpstart and sprinted.

“Hey!” The woman shouted. As his feet pounded against the pavement, Keith heard another door open and slam. Obviously her partner was joining the hunt as well.

Keith sprinted down the street, breathing hard not because of exhaustion, but panic as he skipped around people.

“Down the next alleyway Keith!” The voice ran in his ear directed. He didn’t consider disobeying, running he dipped down the dark, dank path. He swore as he faced a dead end in the form of a cement wall.

“Oh shit, oh shit,” he blabbered as he frantically searched for anything to assist him. He could only see dumpsters and tall long rope that connected to the roof.

“Stop! This is the Police!”

Without even considering another thought, Keith flung himself towards the rope and with the assistance of his adhesive spider skin and climbed. Scrambling and using all the upper body strength he threw himself over the top of the roof of what appeared to be a restaurant. Taking the chance, he peaked over the edge and noticed that the police officer was looking up, shining their torches and trying to figure out how they could proceed with the chase.

“Are you okay? Oh my god I didn’t think you would actually get in trouble with the police! Did you tell them that you helped?”

“Yes of course that was the first thing I said,'' he whispered harshly, mostly in frustration. Standing low, he tried to figure out how he could get away without alerting attention. “How the hell am I going to get away from these guys?”

“You’re on the roof right? Just jump on the next roof over. We know you have incredible jumping capabilities. Your speed along with that would be able to get you across… I think.”

Keith crepted to the other side of the roof and peered down. Even though he could jump, run fast and stick to walls, there was still that human fear of falling.

“It’s a pretty big jump Pidge, I don’t know if I’ll make it.”

“I think it’s your only option. I’ve got your location on the map and there’s not much of an option. You’re going to be surrounded in a few minutes if you don’t get out now.”

Keith dared to look down once again.

“Even if you do manage to fall down, you almost have no fall damage of something as high as a roof, we already know that from the warehouse.”

That was true.

He looked forward towards the next roof that was a few metres over. It had a slightly lower height which would make it a bit easier for him.

“Okay, I’m gonna jump.”

“There we go. Not to be a dick but you might want to hurry up. They're going to be calling for backup any second.”

Keith took a deep breath as he took a few steps back for a run up. There was panic mixed with his fear and anger, but hopefully it was enough fuel to get him over the edge.

He sprinted, working his arms hard and his legs even harder. Just as he got to the edge his senses kicked in. Stopping, he inhaled a sharp breath and clenched his jaw. Slapping his face, he hoped the sting would bring him out of his panic.

“Come on, Keith.” With another deep breath he turned to walk back to his starting point. “One more try,” he whispered to himself as he heard the police sirens go again.

Using that as his friendly nudge, Keith took the run up and jumped. He quite comfortably met the other side. Landing with a roll to the ground, groaning as he felt scrapes against his skin and heard material ripping.

“I heard crashing! Are you still alive?” Pidge’s voice sounded frantic, which wasn’t an often occurrence with his friend who usually didn’t give a shit about anything.

“I made it.”

“Fuck yeah you did! Now let’s get you the hell away from there and back home before Shiro realises you’re gone.”

Keith got to his feet, this time grinning in anticipation as he sprinted up to the edge and took another leap, knowing he didn’t need the faith.

* * *

“I can’t believe that they tried to arrest me _… again!”_ Keith grumbled under his breath as he angrily munched on his cereal. Over the past week each and every crime he stopped _he_ ended up being the one chased. “I told them I was the one who called! How could they have thought that I was the bad guy when I was the one helping?”

“Can you really blame them?” Pidge asked as she took a sip of her juice. “You’re wearing a fucking beanie with holes in it like a psychopath.”

He groaned, resting his forehead against the wooden table. “I was all over the news. In a bad way. They started calling me The Red Bandit. I’m not even a bandit!”

“We just have to do a few more good things until they realise who they’re dealing with,” she said calmly as she drew mockups in her sketchbook filled with suit designs for his disguise. “You just have to get your costume all sorted out so you don’t look so terrifying. Also, I’ve had an idea. It’s a real stroke of brilliance.”

She pushed her book towards Keith and pointed to the page with her pen.

“The first night you went on patrol and were running away from the police you swung on that rope right? What if we made our own portable transportation device? We can make it strong enough to hold your weight and zip around places.”

“Like… Web?”

“Exactly. We’re gonna go with the whole spider theme. You can also use it so you don’t have to hit people so much considering the last guy got a broken wrist from trying to punch you.”

Keith winced at remembering the crack of a drug dealer’s hand when he punched his stomach. To Keith, it did absolutely nothing, but the poor guy hand crumbled from the force, ending with him on the floor, screaming in pain.

It was honestly a horrendous sight to see and he couldn’t agree more with Pidge’s idea. He never wanted to see something like that again, and definitely didn’t want to be the one responsible for it.

“So how are we gonna make this web?”

“I’m going to break into dad’s lab and steal all the supplies. I’m pretty sure I know exactly what ingredients we need. I’ve done a few little experiments over the past week since your first superhero failure.”

“I’m not gonna be a superhero,” Keith said with a roll of his eyes. Sure, they had made jokes about it, but in reality that was just it, a joke.

“I don’t think that’s up to you to decide Keith. Now, let’s go steal dad’s lanyard from his desk and go break into Galran Labs.”

* * *

It took a total of two weeks to be able to develop the correct web formula.

Skipping the long process of how much work went into it was going to be beneficial for everyone. But let’s just say it took a lot of breaking in entering into their high school science lab, a lot of ruined clothes from bad batches and it getting stuck to them forever. One explosion situation that caused the school fire alarms to go off. There were lots of failures, some of the earlier designs weren’t strong enough to hold Keith up in the air, others weren’t flexible enough.

Two weeks didn’t sound like a long time to do something so incredible, but when it comes to Pidge it might as well have been a lifetime. She’s not used to doing stuff like that that’s out of her depth, let’s be real, it ended up not being out of her depth because she _did it._

All they had to do was test it out.

In those two weeks Keith had successfully stopped two store robberies, drug transactions and a few more attempted car thefts. The news and media were still talking shit about him, but honestly nothing could stop him from smiling as he was able to click the web shooter to his wrist for the first time.

“This is incredible, Pidge,” Keith said as he inspected his two new gadgets.

“Thanks! You should give them a go, I _so_ want to see it in action. Just use your two middle fingers to press down and it should shoot it off.”

“Like this – _woah!”_ He felt his body get launched across the room as the web sprung out and hit the far wall. The pure speed of it was exhilarating, yet the shock of it was terrifying. He managed to jump in time so his feet hit the wall instead of his shoulder.

He looked down at Pidge who was throwing her hands up in the air as she cheered the success.

“Now just let it go and then try somewhere else! Do the roof! Do the goddamn roof and swing around like Tarzan!”

Keith turned slightly, one hand on the wall with his two feet up to keep him stable as he used his other hand to aim upwards. He shot the web out and it stuck on the roof. Bending his knees to build momentum, he kicked himself off the surface.

He couldn’t help but feel his stomach drop and rise inside him as he swung round the room. It was like a ride but he was completely in control, depending on him and him only to make it go.

They were both screaming in pure childlike delight. How could they not? Pidge just made something incredible and it _worked._

Once his line of string started to slow down he looked back down the Pidge with a massive grin.

“You’re a goddamn genius!”

“And don’t you forget it, Kogane!” She shouted and did a little dance that she always did when one of her experiments worked out.

He let go of his web, easily landing on his feet. Lifting his fist for her bump, she returned it enthusiasm and then hissed in pain, shaking her fingers out.

“I keep forgetting that you’re like a brick now. But I’m way too happy to care about the pain because you can pretty much fly! Dude, forget _Superman_ , you’re gonna be so badass!”

“Unless the police try to shoot me from the sky,” Keith muttered, his previous enthusiasm dissipated. “Even Shiro was talking about The Red Bandit.” Keith groaned. “I can’t stand that name.”

“Then we need to think of your own. You rejected all of my ideas.”

He gave her a look. “Your suggestions were shit.”

“My suggestion was Superman.”

“Exactly: shit.”

Pidge pulled her notebook out and started flicking through. “Well we’re pretty much set on going with the spider theme. Seems to kind of make sense considering you got your powers from a spider and you’ve now got a web like a spider. How about… The Tarantula?”

“I don’t want to give people nightmares. They’re gross and fucking nasty.”

Pidge huffed, then went back to thinking of more options. “Black Widow?”

“I feel like someone else would have that name by now.”

“Venom? Lots of spiders are venomous so…”

“I don’t think it quite fits.”

Pidge groaned. “God you’re hopeless. If you keep being so picky you’re going to be stuck with The Red Bandit.”

Keith cringed at the idea. “We can work on it later.”

* * *

A few days later it was time to test out his new web shooters in action.

His spidey-senses (which was what they had been officially named) were getting much more precise each time he went out. He was starting to be able to pick up things that were a few blocks away, which was lucky considering his next mission was a little different this time.

He watched from the roof as a man pulled a gun out on a woman and demanded her belongings. Pidge had already called the police by now so Keith had a total of 10 minutes tops to be able to clear the situation.

He never actually saved or someone directly before. It was always stopping robbers or drug transactions. There was never somebody’s life on the line other than his own.

He took a deep breath and pulled the red balaclava over his head. Shooting his web shooters down he was able to land on the ground without getting noticed by either woman or the mugger.

His eyesight had improved significantly after the spider bite, which also went hand-in-hand with his aim. He thought it would take a while to get used to being able to shoot with his web precisely but so far ahead yet to miss a target.

He hoped that would not change tonight because of the nerves making him shake.

Shooting the web at the gun, he hit the target. Removing the weapon from his hand in a silent blow. The mugger grunted in surprise as he looked at his empty hand. Yanking it, Keith now held the weapon in his possession.

Shooting another string of the web, he aimed it at the man’s hands to give him the disadvantage. He wouldn’t be able grab anything - or anyone- even if he tried. The woman screamed and took a few steps backwards until her back hit the wall.

“What the hell is this stuff?” The man demanded as he looked at his confined arms.

“Web. Pretty cool right? Want to see it again?” He didn’t give him another chance to answer before shooting another web. The force of it hitting him flung him backward to the wall, now stuck there.

“What the – _let me out!_ Let me fucking go!”

“How does it feel to be the one at the mercy of someone else?” Keith asked, walking over to the man who thrashed around in the web. He wasn’t going anywhere. “Now you know how you made that woman feel. Maybe this will be a lesson to you.”

“You fucking psycho! Let me out of here!”

“The point of me sticking your there was so that you can’t get down before the cops arrive.” The man let out an unholy screech that made Keith wince at. To stop the noise he aimed his web shooters at his mouth. As it covered the man’s mouth, the shrieks turned muffled. “Jeez, do you have to be so loud,” he grumbled as he turned around.

The sound of heavy breathing caught Keith’s attention. Now he had dealt with the perp, he was faced with a woman, pale with fear and eyes wide. He’s put his hand up. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I’ve already called the police so –”

“You, you saved me,” she croaked out and put a hand to her heart as she slumped against the wall. “You’re the Red Bandit, right? The guy on the news?”

Keith cringed and scratched the top of his head. “I’m trying to get myself a better name than that.”

“Whatever you want to call yourself, you just saved my life. I was so sure he was gonna pull the trigger.”

For some reason Keith hadn’t really thought about this side of doing his ‘hero’ work. He never really thought he would actually save anyone from potential death. It felt too… _big_ of a thing to do.

“I… I'm glad you’re safe.”

She smiled, it was a little shaky but overall relieved. “You’re a hero. You are like a spider, man that was cool. I’ll put in a good word with you with the police.”

The police sirens in the distance were like a bell.

_Like a spider, man that was cool._

_Spider, man._

_Spider man._

_Spider-Man._

Shooting his web shooter, he swung himself onto the roof. Before making a move to leave, he looked back down at the woman. “If you want to put in a good word with me then, tell them the name’s Spider-Man.”

The woman smiled and waved. “Will do. Thank you Spider-Man!”

“Finally,” Pidge muttered under her breath but the noise was loud in his head as he grinned and swung away into the night.

* * *

“What in the sweet fuck is that?” Keith exasperated, taking a few steps backwards in shock at what was laid out on Pidges bed.

“That, Spider-Man,” she said with an evil grin, “– is your new disguise.”

“It’s made of latex!”

“Well you can’t be wearing jeans and a T-shirt, can you? We can’t let anything get stuck while you’re swinging otherwise you’re going to get hurt.”

“It looks really tight.”

“It will be. I kind of based on something a luge athlete wears.”

“What the hell is a luge?”

“A sport, you dingdong.”

Keith rolled his eyes and picked up the material and held it out in front of him. “Other than the fact that this is gonna be a bitch to get on and off, it looks pretty cool. I like the symbol.”

“Finally, some good fucking feedback. Do you like the colour scheme? I chose red because that’s always been your colour.”

“Okay, what’s with the blue then?”

Her expression turned smug and evil. “It may or may not be a similar shade of eye color to your one true love Lance McClain.” Keith's whole body went red and he smacked her on the back of the head as she cackled evilly.

“You‘re such a little gremlin.”

“Whatever, I know you love me. Now put the suit on and let’s see if it fits.”

It did in fact, fit. Even though it was tight, it was easy to move in. As the final touch, he put the mask on his head and walked over to his friend.

“How does it look?”

“Well you look less like a serial killer now so that’s a plus. But the look of it isn’t even the best part. I can activate voice disguise and GPS signals and we can communicate through audio and video.”

Keith whistled. “You’ve outdone yourself.”

She grinned properly. “I know.”

“Now there is only one thing left to do.”

She cocked her head to the side. “And what would that be?”

Keith smiled and opened the window to her lavish New York penthouse apartment. “Let’s go test it out.”

* * *

“And now you’re up-to-date,” Keith said rolling his eyes as Lance began to clap.

“Bravo, bravo. You’re quite the storyteller.” The grin on Lance’s face made it apparent to him that he was definitely teasing him.

“You’re such an asshole,” Keith muttered despite the smile on his lips which made Lance laugh lightly. “Not all of us can be as dramatic as you to amp up the theatrics.”

“I am _not dramatic_!”

“He says, speaking in the most dramatic voice ever.” Even though Lance’s mouth dropped in offence, his eyes were mischievous and his lips still slightly turned upright.

“You are _so_ rude. My compliment was genuine. I’m happy that you told me that story, though. It’s like the origin story of the great hero!”

“Yeah, yeah, you can write a book about it one day.”

“Well, I wouldn’t say it was _that_ good of a story.”

“Now who’s the one that’s being rude,” he said, jabbing his fingers into Lance’s side so that he jolted with a yelp.

There was a moment of silence where they both stared at each other, both knowing what was going to come next. Keith’s hands came into contact with Lance’s ticklish spot again. He tried to squirm away but unluckily for him, Keith’s bed was pretty small, not leaving him much room to escape. The fact he was sitting on the side of the bed that was against the wall didn’t help his case either.

“No! Keith have mercy!” Lance shrieked, trying to push Keith off while he cackled as fingers brushed the sensitive areas.

It was weird. If Keith was with anybody else that had their arms going around and thrashing about his Spidey-senses would be going haywire, no matter if it was playful or not. It just seemed like they turned off around Lance. Like he was a safe space where he didn’t need to have his instincts turned on all the time because he knew he was okay in Lance’s presence.

It was comfortable.

It felt like home.

“Keith you better watch yourself because when it comes to tickling, my body goes into fight mode and I _will_ end up kicking you.”

“I once got hit by a police car. I’m not scared of your kicks. “

“That is mildly concerning, but you totally should’ve added it to your story. Could’ve built up the tension a little bit there.” By the daring smile Lance gave him, Keith decided that he was practically asking to be tackled at this point.

So instead of a tickle attack he squished Lance’s checks together with his hands, chuckling as the boy grumbled in confusion. Keith then moved his hand to brown hair, so perfectly styled, curls soft and bouncy. It made it all the more satisfying when he ruffled it up between his fingers.

By the way Lance screamed anyone would’ve thought he was getting murdered. Yet Keith knew that after his skin, Lance’s hair was his most important to keep groomed when it came to his appearance. This was practically torture. Way, way worse than being tickled.

He couldn’t help but laugh as Lance struggled to get away from his hands, then laughed even more when he removed them and his boyfriend’s hair. It looked like it was styled by a tornado. He was still snickering at Lance as he attempted to fix it.

“I can’t believe you just did that! 0 out of 10 time. I’m gonna leave a bad review.”

“A bad review on what?”

“You. Bad boyfriend. 0 out of 10. Bullies me and ruins my hair. You know I made it nice for you today so you could appreciate it!”

“You’re such a baby. You weren’t even this bad when I took you out web swinging for the first time.”

“Can you blame me?”

No, he really couldn’t blame Lance for being scared. The first time he did it he was incredibly anxious, because the reality was that one wrong move and you could get yourself incredibly hurt. Now though, swinging felt as natural as walking or running.

“It’s worth it though,” Keith said. “It’s always so quiet and pretty up there.”

“Not as pretty as me though.” The way he said it was definitely intended to be a joke, but in Keith’s world his words hadn’t been wrong.

“Yeah,” Keith agreed and watched Lance go from smiling to blushing and then just plain bashful.

“No, you’re not supposed to agree with me,” he whined, now trying to hide his red face from him.

“Why? It’s the truth.”Keith smiled as Lance groaned, obviously not coping well as his face blushed even harder.

It was nice to know he could fluster Lance as easily as he could fluster Keith.

“You’re the worst, and the best, you’re just –” he groaned again and ran his hands down his cheeks in an attempt to cool myself down. It didn’t seem to work considering when Lance looked back at Keith he was still quite pink. “You’re so annoying.”

“Because I think you’re pretty?” Keith asked with a scrunched up noise. “You’re my boyfriend, of course I think you’re pretty.”

“First of all – the _audacity_ you have – I just can’t – give me your face!”

“What?”

“Give me your face,” he said as he put his hands on either side of his head for him to drag it down to his.

It was halfway down when he actually realised what Lance wanted from him, so he’s not fully prepared for when their lips do manage to meet. It’s only a few moments where it doesn’t feel quite right, lips in an awkward position which also exposed their inexperience.

One second, maybe two, then it all fell into place.

Before Keith had ever actually kissed someone he had never really thought that there was anything special about the action. It was just a thing people did that probably wouldn’t be as pleasant as TV perceived it to be. But now that he’s kissed a guy he’s come to realise that they weren’t over exaggerating things at all.

Well, maybe it felt that way to some people, but between Keith and Lance it was definitely always a positive experience. No matter how many times they accidentally smudge their noses together or clacked their teeth together. Like he had said before; Lance was safe, comfortable and felt like home. Keith wasn’t too scared of making a mistake, knowing he and Lance could laugh it off then move on.

Lance’s fingers glided from his face to hang around the back of his neck, causing his nape to tingle from the sensation. The action also brought them a little closer, making it all the more sweeter as Keith shifted, now half on top of Lance. It was almost a little intimidating to rest his leg in between both of his boyfriend’s. His cheeks flushed as Lance’s fingers grabbed a little tighter at his hair.

Part of him can’t even believe that he gets the opportunity to kiss this guy. He’s liked him for so long, way longer than they’ve been together. None of it felt real. Not the soft hands caressing his jaw and going through his hair. Certainly no the fact he was lying on top of Lance, the only thing separating them was clothes and-

_No Keith! Do not start to think about Lance being in less clothing and ruin the goddamn moment!_

A soft noise from the back of Lance’s throat must have been unintentional because Keith felt his boyfriend’s face flush hot, most likely embarrassed.

Keith’s surprised his Spidey-senses weren’t going haywire, because if Lance made another noise like that shit was about to get _real_ dangerous.

Apparently, his senses weren’t up to scratch, because he hadn’t even heard his door handle turning as it opened. The sound of Shiro’s surprised ‘ _oh shit!’_ came before the door was being slammed closed again.

Naturally they jumped apart from each other at the intrusion. Lance’s face obviously horrified as he then hid his head under Keith’s pillow and let out a muffled line of _‘oh my god’s’_ ’ of pure humiliation.

 _“Shiro!”_ Keith snapped, looking at his door knowing that his brother was still standing there. “Don’t you know how to knock?”

“I’m sorry!” Even behind the door he knew his brother well enough to know that he was probably more embarrassed about seeing his little brother making out with his boyfriend more than they were about him seeing them. “Can I come in now?”

He groaned, flattening his hair that Lance had just ruffled up with his fingers. “Yes you can come in now.”

The door opened with a creak and Shiro walked in with a sheepish smile. “So is Lance staying for dinner?”

Lance removed his head from underneath the pillow. “Umm… No Officer Shirogane. I promised my mama I’d be home.”

“Of course. Also please drop the ‘Officer Shirogane’. You know you can call me Shiro.”

Lance gave a singular, stiff nod. He looked petrified, despite the fact that Shiro was smiling at him. Shiro genuinely really liked Lance straight from the get go. Even before they started dating he liked him. Keith didn’t get why Lance clammed up like this.

“Keith, you should take Lance home then so he can be on time for his dinner.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anything to leave this awkward situation,” he muttered under his breath, using his hands to push himself up and off his bed. Lance scrambled to follow closely behind and out his bedroom door.

As Lance ran away, Keith was stopped by his brother who put a hand on his shoulder.

“As much as I am happy for you as my little brother, don’t think you’ve gotten away with this.” Keith rolled his eyes, knowing his brother would see. “We’re going to be having _the talk_ when you get home.”

“I’m 17! I don’t need _the talk_ ,”he hissed quietly, grateful that Lance was too busy tying his shoelaces to overhear the conversation between them.

Shiro grinned. “Don’t worry, I promise I’ll make it as uncomfortable as possible. I’m going to get a banana and condom out to demonstrate –”

“Okay we are leaving!” Keith shouted, pushing Lance out of the front door, leaving Shiro to snicker to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed the story of how our keithy became spider-man (as well as the klancey smooches they're so precious)
> 
> I've considered part 2 & 3 (hide and memories) to be 'filler' chapters to this series. The next part will be the next major plot point :)
> 
> Also next week I am going to be uploading my mini instagram series of ~stripper lance~ on here so people who don't have insta can read as well!!!
> 
> until next time ♥♥♥

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter will be out next week!
> 
> I also finished my single dad Lance / tattoo artist keith au and uploaded one (of many) bonus chapters if you bored over quarantine and want some more klance to read ;) 
> 
> Hope you have a good week until next update! ❤


End file.
